66 1. Our privilege as Believers [Believers now feed on Christ, as the whole Jewish nation fed upon the manna: and from day to day it is found, that they who gather much have nothing over; and they who gather little have no lack." In the Church of God at this day persons are very differently circumstanced; some having much leisure, and deep learning, and many opportunities of attending ordinances in public, and of acquiring information in private; whilst others are so entirely occupied with temporal concerns, or so remote from opportunities of instruction, that they can gather but little comparatively of the heavenly bread. But have the one therefore any superfluity, or the other any want? No. We will ask of those who are most devoted to the word of God and prayer, whether they find their attainments in knowledge and in grace so abundant, that they have more than their necessities require? No. A blind Papist may boast of his works of supererogation, and of having merits to sell for the benefit of less-favoured people: but "ye, Beloved, have not so learned Christ:" ye know, that if your attainments were an hundredfold more than they are, there were scope enough for the employment of them, without overburthening your souls: you would still "forget all that was behind, and be reaching forward for that which was before, if by any means you might obtain the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus." On the other hand, I will ask of those whose attainments are more contracted; Do you not find that your more slender portion is sufficient for you? You feed on the Lord Jesus Christ, as the bread of life: and do you not find that he nourishes your souls; and that pardon, and peace, and holiness, are the fruits of your communion with him? Yes it is said, "He that believeth" (not he that is very strong in faith) "shall be saved;" yea, and that "all who believe (whatever be their stature or growth in grace) are justified from all things." If you be but a child, incapable of digesting strong meat, you find that "the sincere milk of the word" is sufficient to nourish and support you; and that if you be but a lamb in Christ's flock, "he carries the lambs in his bosom," because "it is not the will of your Father that one of his little ones should perish." This is no reason for your neglecting to exert yourselves to the uttermost: but it is a comfort to you to know, that, though from the peculiarity of your circumstances you have been able to gather but little, you neither have, nor shall have, any occasion to complain that you have "lacked" what was needful for you. If you have 1 Pet. ii. 24. Both senses were true: but the spiritual sense was the more important. e Phil. iii. 13, 14. had no superabundance of grace, "your strength has been according to your day."] 2. Our duty, as Saints [All, whilst they judged their first offices due to those who were immediately dependent on them, considered themselves as members of one great family, and bound to administer help to all whose necessities should require it. Thus should the whole collective mass of believers consider themselves bound to render every possible assistance to every part of Christ's mystical body. Every joint is to supply a measure of nutriment according to its capacity, for the good of the whole body; that so the whole may be strengthened, and edified in love. The command is plain, "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees: say unto them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong; fear not; your God will come and save you." With whatever we be enriched, we should be ready to impart of our stores liberally and without grudging; considering that we are but stewards of all that we possess, and that in dispensing to others the benefits we have received, whether they be of a temporal or spiritual nature, we most resemble our Heavenly Father, and best answer the ends for which those blessings have been committed to us. True, indeed, we have not any thing of our own, which we can impart to others; (we have no more oil in our lamps than is wanted for ourselves;) nor can any diligence in the head of a family supersede the necessity of every member gathering for himself; (for every man must bear his own burtheni:") but still, as instruments in God's hands, we may be serviceable to many*, and may, as golden pipes, convey the golden oil, for the enlightening and edifying of the Church of God'.] Having thus marked the distinct views in which I conceive the fact before us ought to be regarded, I will now, in conclusion, suggest the INSTRUCTION to be derived from it in a collective view. We may LEARN from it, I think, 1. Contentment [The whole people of Israel had but this food for forty years; nor, except for use on the Sabbath-day, was any of it to be treasured up, even for a single day. The whole people of Israel were to subsist on God's providence, exactly as the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. Nor was any thing more than food and raiment to be the portion of so much as Eph. iv. 15, 16. h Matt. xxv. 8, 9. g Isai. xxxv. 3, 4. with Heb. xii. 12, 13. 1 Zech. iv. 12. with 1 Thess. v. 11, 14. one amongst them with this they were to be content; and with a similar portion should we also be content". Hear St. Paul's experience on this subject: "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased; and I know how to abound: everywhere, and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need"." Precisely such should be the frame of our minds also. We should offer continually, and from our inmost souls, that prayer which our Lord has taught us, "Give us day by day our daily bread:" and we should really be willing to live dependent on our God for every blessing, whether for body or for soul, whether for time or for eternity.] 2. Confidence [In parting with any superfluity which they might have attained, the whole people of Israel shewed that they looked to God alone for a supply of their necessities, and that they had no doubt of his continued care even to the end. The same lesson should we also learn. We should "take no thought for the morrow, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and rest assured that all needful blessings shall be added unto us." We should regard God as our Parent; who, if he neglect not the birds of the air, or the meanest worm of the earth, will surely not neglect his own children, but will rather feed them with bread from heaven, and cause that bread to follow them in all their journeys, than leave them one day without the supply that is needful for them.] 3. Liberality [Certainly, to give away the superabundance which they had gathered, when they had not any thing in hand for their subsistence on the morrow, was a bright example of generosity. I am far from saying that we, under our dispensation, should carry our liberality to the same extent; but I have no doubt but that the spirit which they manifested should be cultivated by us also, and that to a much greater extent than is generally imagined. The instruction given by John the Baptist to the people of his day was, "He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise P." If it be thought that this was nothing but an Eastern proverb, I answer, that St. Paul, in the very place where he quotes the words of my text, proposes to our imitation the example of the Macedonians, which scarcely fell short of the very letter of St. John's instructions: "For at a time when they were in a trial of great affliction m 1 Tim. vi. 8. • Matt. vi. 31-34. n Phil. iv. 11, 12. P Luke iii. 11. and in deep poverty themselves, they yet abounded unto the riches of liberality; being willing to give not only to their power, but beyond their power, and praying him with much entreaty to take upon him the office of dispensing their alms to their afflicted brethren." Nay more, he proposes to us the example of our blessed Lord himself, who " though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich." Let this mind then be in you, my beloved brethren; and account yourselves rich, not in proportion to what you can consume upon yourselves, but according to what you are able to administer for the benefit of others. "In bearing one another's burthens, ye shall best fulfil the law of Christ."] q 2 Cor. viii. 1-4. r 2 Cor. viii. 9. 8 Gal. vi. 2. LXXXVIII. SENDING OF THE MANNA. Exod. xvi. 35. And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited: they did eat manna until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. THE history of the Israelites in the wilderness contains an uninterrupted series of miracles. It might be well expected, that two millions of people encamped in a barren desert would soon begin to want fresh supplies of food. And so it happened. In a month after their first departure from Egypt, they had exhausted the store that they had brought with them. But God, who had brought them thus far, would not suffer them to remain destitute any longer than was necessary to try their faith and patience. He therefore gave them from the clouds a peculiar kind of food, (such as had never been seen before,) a small white substance, like coriander-seed, which, when ground in a mill and baked or seethed in water, was extremely palatable. We propose to make some observations upon, I. The provision he gave them Let the occasion on which he gave it be first considered [Instead of confiding in that God who had so often, and so wonderfully interposed for them, they murmured against him in a most impious manner, wishing that he had involved them in the judgments which had desolated Egypt, rather than that he should have brought them into their present difficulties. And though their complaints were directed professedly only against Moses and Aaron, they were, in fact, against God himself, by whose direction alone any step had been taken. How astonishing was it that God should take occasion from such a grievous act of impiety to give them such tokens of his love and mercy! Might we not have expected rather that he should execute upon them his severest judgments? But thus he has done in all ages, in order to display the sovereignty and the riches of his grace. -] Next, let us notice the directions he gave respecting it [They were to gather the manna from day to day, reserving none of it for the morrow. This was to teach them their entire dependence upon God, and impress them with a sense of God's continued care of them. And though we are not forbidden, yea rather are commanded, to make suitable provision for our families, yet in the habit of our minds we are to be continually dependent on God, and free from all anxious care or distrust They were not to gather any on the Sabbath, but to provide a double portion on the day preceding it. How early was the observance of the Sabbath inculcated! The law was not yet given; therefore the observance of the Sabbath was not a mere ceremonial commandment. Nor was the injunction relative to it either given by Moses, or received by Israel, as a new thing: it doubtless had been enforced from the beginning of the world: and consequently we, no less than the Jews, are bound to lay aside all temporal concerns, as much as possible, on that day, and to consecrate it wholly to the service of our God They were to preserve some of it in a pot, and lay it up before the Lord as a memorial for future generations. They were not to forget the mercies vouchsafed to them; but rather to transmit to their latest posterity the remembrance of them; in order that they also might be led to serve and trust in the living God. And have not we also memorials of the love of God to us? Search the records of our national history, or let every one consult his own personal experience; and we shall find abundant reason to adore that God, who has interposed a ver. 3. b ver. 8. • To Adam, Gen. iii. 6, 12, 15. To Saul, Acts xxvi. 10—16. To ourselves in unnumbered instances, making our sins the occasion of deeper humiliation. d ver. 4, 19. |